The field of wearable sensors is growing rapidly, with commercial products available for monitoring vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate, and respiration. In a recent report, Lux Research forecast that a new generation of sensors, called PFOE sensors (printed, flexible, organic electronic sensors) are destined for a future in which millions or billions of wirelessly-connected devices will form the much-discussed “internet of things”, a large part of which may be wearable devices, including new medical and athletic wearable devices.
This invention relates to the field of systems using wearable sensors, and further includes wearable actuators, wearable control systems and wireless systems for communication between users wearing such systems. In a particular variation, this invention relates to wearable systems with sensors, actuators and control systems adapted for use in medical fields and the field of female sexual response and well-being.
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on women's health relating to sexuality and sexual response. On one track, physicians, researchers and pharmacologists have led a movement toward establishing female sexual dysfunction (FSD) as a new category of disease. In a well known 1999 JAMA study, the authors reported that 43% of surveyed American women experienced sexual dysfunction (Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb. 10, 1999). In this study, women were considered to have sexual dysfunction if they reported any of the following: lack of sexual desire, difficulty in becoming aroused, inability to achieve orgasm, anxiety about sexual performance, or failure to derive pleasure from sex. Further, the drug industry has attempted to draw parallels between male and female sexual dysfunction, following the success of Viagra (sildenafil) in treating male dysfunction. The success of sildenafil has made women's sexuality a high-profile research target.
On another track, women on their own have found means for addressing the issue of dissatisfaction is their sex life, and it is unlikely that they consider such dissatisfaction to be a disease state. In 2000, critics of categorizing female sexual dysfunction as a disease state were supported by the results of a preliminary study by the Kinsey Institute. The Kinsey data indicated that women considered that their emotional health and personal relationship factors were the most important factors in sexual well-being, rather than a quantitative metric such as achieving orgasm. In the Kinsey survey, women ranked general well-being at the top as a requirement, followed by emotional reactions during sexual activity, the attractiveness of her partner, physical responses during sexual activity, frequency of sexual activity with her partner, and her partner's sensitivity.
It seems likely the incidence of female sexual dysfunction has been exaggerated by parties other than the women themselves. However, there certainly is a lack of sexual well-being that is real for millions of women. In general, in women, sexual response is much more qualitative than in men and relates to desire, arousal, and gratification which cannot be easily observed or measured.
Women are taking active measures to enhance satisfaction in their sex life, and it appears that stimulus devices are popular and effective. In the 2005 Durex Global Sex Well-Being Survey it was reported that 43% of US respondents own a vibrator-type stimulus device. Similarly, a 2009 Indiana University study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that 53 percent of all U.S. women have used a vibrator device.
Thus, it seems clear that stimulus devices may play a significant role in woman's sexual well-being. Such well-being is the result of a mind/body collaboration, that is, typically involving two minds and two bodies. What is needed are stimulus systems that are adapted for enhancing sexual response in women, while at the same time providing avenues for improving the personal relationship with her partner. More particularly, what is needed are new forms of stimulus systems that are enabled by discrete wearable sensors and actuators. Further, what is needed are cybernetic stimulus systems that will improve communications between a female and her partner while at the same time providing for optimal stimulus in intimate moments. Further, what is needed are cybernetic stimulus systems with data memory capabilities that are adapted to train or remind the partners of optimal stimulus inputs, or directly provide such inputs from algorithms that access the stored data.
The details of several variations of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.